Author Topic: E30 DME use in a e36 (Read 7032 times)

wodcutr · « **on:** February 16, 2012, 12:39:08 PM »

This may be a stupid question but I was wondering if a 175 DME for an e30 would be able to be used in a 95 318ti? They both have the same motor so I would think it would work, but I don't want to fry something. IDK maybe the connectors are different and I wouldn't even be able to try! Thoughts?

bmwconnect · « **Reply #1 on:** February 16, 2012, 02:18:13 PM »

Quote from: wodcutr;110311

This may be a stupid question but I was wondering if a 175 DME for an e30 would be able to be used in a 95 318ti? They both have the same motor so I would think it would work, but I don't want to fry something. IDK maybe the connectors are different and I wouldn't even be able to try! Thoughts?

You would need a full harness/sensor swap to make it work. The DME's are not the same nor is the functions driving the motor

cheers

wodcutr · « **Reply #2 on:** February 16, 2012, 02:36:32 PM »

Interesting...I guess I might be in the market for a 95 DME then. I have a good 96 DME, but that motor is the m44 so I don't think it would work either.

DesktopDave · « **Reply #3 on:** February 16, 2012, 06:39:03 PM »

Don't forget about EWS as well. I think you'd need one of the red-label units IIRC. The silver ones (282?) need chipped or worse, aligned by a dealer.

Anything wrong with the current DME? Or is it a swap?

wodcutr · « **Reply #4 on:** February 17, 2012, 09:39:00 AM »

I am buying the car today and the owner says that the EWS module has gone bad so the car won't start. I need to do some investigating into that one, but I suppose if this is the case I might need to buy a DME, EWS, and a chipped key that are already aligned. The red label DMEs don't need chipped keys...where do I find info on that stuff?

DesktopDave · « **Reply #5 on:** February 17, 2012, 09:49:04 AM »

The early EWS units can be chipped...and my BMW Master Tech buddy insists that you only need one wire snipped to defeat EWS.

However, I found all sorts of conflicting information on teh g00gl3.

These guys claim that a red label is required, along with their chip, to disable EWS.

This guy claims that a '94 red label 282 worked fine in his '95, no need to match model year. The 282 comes in both versions, and is also coded for manual or auto tranny. Beware that you get the correct model. Everyone knows about this mod, so the red label DMEs are far more expensive. I wonder if it's possible to mod the silver label? If you knew where to rewrite the code it's likely very possible, but I have no clue about how to do that. PM BMWConnect, I'll bet he has a few suggestions or solutions to these problems.

According to this guy's work:

Quote

9. Locate EWS Controlling unit behind glovebox.
10. Once located, unplug unit completely from chassis harness.
11. Locate the two largest wires in that harness, Black with yellow line, and Black with Lime green line.
12. Cut both from harness loom to the EWS unit, strip wiring, then connect the two lines to each other, this will enable the starter.

I think it's the lime green wire...The later units (OBD2) are much more expensive to delete. They definitely need chipped.

Here's another link, different method. It's definitely not pin 66 on the DME connector, that's for the M50 only. I think the M42 is pin 82 or something like that. I'd cut it coming out of the DME controller instead. I wish I knew for sure...I really like the 318Ti, it'd be great to find a DME no-start to haggle prices over.

wodcutr · « **Reply #6 on:** February 17, 2012, 05:27:06 PM »

WOW! That is some great info there Dave. I think I will be trying to find a red label 282 DME. I bought the car and have it sitting on my trailer in my side yard ATM. The DME has been removed and I was told by the PO that some BMW mechanic diagnosed that it is the problem. I wonder if all that really needs to happen here is everything needs to be realigned and this guy did not have the tools to do it so he suggested a new DME. How does the EWS and DME become unaligned?

DesktopDave · « **Reply #7 on:** February 17, 2012, 05:38:25 PM »

The EWS unit dies, or the antenna around the key fails. The DME rarely dies from what I've heard. I'll ask my buddy if he knows anything else you can try.

wodcutr · « **Reply #8 on:** February 17, 2012, 09:18:44 PM »

Thanks, you are a big help!

wodcutr · « **Reply #9 on:** February 20, 2012, 02:33:35 PM »

I have done some investigating into this cars problems and the motor won't even crank. I have installed another EWS2 module in it and connected another antenna ring and chipped key inserted through the ring all from a 96 and the car still won't turn over. With this stuff installed it should crank but not start. I installed this other stuff to make sure that the original ring wasn't the problem and to eliminate the EWS module as well. Any thoughts?

b_cyrus · « **Reply #10 on:** February 20, 2012, 03:30:01 PM »

maybe there's a difference between the OBD1 and OBDII EWS?

wodcutr · « **Reply #11 on:** February 20, 2012, 04:11:19 PM »

I got the car to crank by cutting the EWS thickest wires, green/blk and yellow/blk, and tying them together as suggested in an earlier post. I am guessing that this eliminates the chipped key and antenna ring altogether. Car still won't start because it is not getting fuel pump and spark from DME.

I will check if the EWS modules are different but I thought they had the same PN just different colored stickers.

DesktopDave · « **Reply #12 on:** February 20, 2012, 04:57:30 PM »

From what I'm guessing, that unit should run once you get a non-EWS chip in the DME, but I'm not sure if the silver unit can be unlocked that way.

EWS should only send a signal on one pin, the DME will unlock fuel & spark when it gets that coded signal. Call or email MarkD and see what he says.

wodcutr · « **Reply #13 on:** February 20, 2012, 05:51:15 PM »

PROBLEM SOLVED!

I got to looking in the bentley manual at the EWS wiring schematics and found that the 95 ti has fuse #46 that goes with the anti theft module. Upon further investigation the fuse looked good, but I installed a new one anyway and hooked up the module the way it was originally before I started cutting wires. I turned the key to see if it would start and the car fired right up. I can not believe it! All that was wrong was a stupid 15 amp fuse.

I took an even closer look at the suspect fuse and it had a very fine line in the wire. There were no burn marks or anything like what you would find with a normal blown fuse. It was impossible to see almost, but when I inserted the tip of a small screw driver in there the wire separated easily. This just goes to show you that a fuse can look good but be faulty. The PO spent lots of money with a mechanic to have it misdiagnosed and they sold the car to me because they didn't want to spend any more money on the vehicle.

Thanks for all the help here and I have to say I love these forums. You guys helped me diagnose and make sense of the situation and forced me to actually study the bentley manual and read electrical schematics. I still can't believe it was a fuse!

DesktopDave · « **Reply #14 on:** February 20, 2012, 06:10:22 PM »

You mean the silver label just needed those wires spliced? GTFO!

If so I'll be scrounging for some no-start mid-90s BMWs...